How to Protect Your Child from Cyber Bullying

Graphic pornography, sexual predators, cyber bullies, sexting, addictive online gaming all—make the internet a dangerous place for children. No safeguard stands between the internet and your child except your involved, informed parenting. This article from Lightlogger keylogger presents effective, practical steps you can take to protect your child from one of those threats, cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying is willfully and repeatedly harming others, via the internet or texting, by sending messages that humiliate, harass, threaten, exclude, or impersonate. Cyber bullying includes distributing cruel or false gossip, revealing secrets or embarrassing information, impersonating others in ways that damage their reputations, issuing threats, and excluding others from popular activities. One third of American teenagers report having been the victim of some type of cyber bullying.

To protect your child from cyber bullying, first implement a comprehensive internet protection plan. Use the free resources offered online at Internet Safety 101, including the written rules, software tools, youth pledge, and appropriate age-based guidelines for your child. Experts on internet safety recommend parents of children 18 and under both establish clear, written rules for their kids’ online behavior and use software tools to filter and monitor their kids’ activity. Both should be appropriate to your child’s age. When installing software, include an activity monitor like Lightlogger keylogger, a website filter, and a child-safe browser for younger children.

Now take these additional steps to protect your child:

·        Teach your child to treat people online with the courtesy and respect he or she shows people in person and to never spread gossip, bully, or make threats against others online or offline.

·        Teach your child to always be cautious when sharing personal information with others online, since the information can be easily used against him or her.

·        Teach your child never to retaliate in kind to cyber bullying and to save bullying messages and the senders’ identifications to give to you.

·        Spot check your child’s online activity occasionally with your monitoring software. Lightlogger keylogger, an inexpensive, easy-to-use monitoring tool, is ideal for this purpose, since it records many types of activity, including images taken periodically of your monitor’s content.

Remember that being actively involved and interested in your child’s online life is the most important tool you have.